Matt Johnson (keyboardist)

Matt Johnson (born 3 February 1969, Bournemouth, England) is a British keyboardist who plays for the funk and jazz band Jamiroquai.

For Matt Johnson, the British singer and keyboardist for The The, see Matt_Johnson_(singer).
For Matt Johnson, the American keyboardist, see Matt and Kim.
Matt Johnson
Johnson in 2017
Background information
Born (1969-02-03) 3 February 1969
London, England
OriginBournemouth, England
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • songwriter
Instrumentskeyboard
Years active1990s–present
Associated actsJamiroquai (2002–present)

Biography

Johnson was aged one and a half when he started playing the piano at his family home. "My dad was a musician, so there was always music playing in the house; but I remember being taught by a scary old piano teacher, who must have been over 90 years old". His influences range from Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis through to Squarepusher.

Before playing in Jamiroquai, Johnson was a writer and performer for bands Sunray—with whom Kym Mazelle recorded a cover of "Perhaps"—and Nu Hope. He has also written and produced songs for artists such as Alexia, who had a minor hit with "Ring".

His route into Jamiroquai was via an audition in 2002. He was recommended by Simon Katz, a previous guitarist, and Derrick gave him the call. The audition was a success, and Matt became a songwriter and member of Jamiroquai.

Johnson has also had a stint as the chief songwriting partner and producer—along with a Jamiroquai bandmate, guitarist Rob Harris—for singer-songwriter Julian Perretta, helping him create his debut album, Stitch Me Up, which was released in 2010.[1]

He joined Jamiroquai on 2 May 2002, replacing the founding member Toby Smith as keyboardist.

Johnson produced and co-wrote songs for the group's 2017 album, Automaton, with bandmate Jay Kay.[2] He also produced Jon Regen's 2019 album Higher Ground.[3] In July 2020, he released three singles—"With The Music", “ZOOM”, and “Sunshine”—to promote his new album, With the Music, which was released on 18 July 2020 in Japan, followed by a worldwide release two days later.[4]

References
  1. "Julian Perretta | Biography & History | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  2. "Jamiroquai Automaton". exclaim.ca. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  3. Graff, Gary. "New Music: Jon Regen, Wilco, Avett Brothers, Brantley Gilbert and more..." The Oakland Press. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCpNMqRKPRE
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.